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2007-01-03 08:54:20 · 12 answers · asked by courtney w 1 in Science & Mathematics Earth Sciences & Geology

12 answers

About 150,000,000km, or 93,000,000miles, or 1AU, or 8 Light Minutes.

All are ways to describe the distance from the sun.

Because the orbit of the earth is an ellipse, though, this is merely and average distance from day to day through the year. Around January 4, it is the farthest from the sun, and around July 4, it is the closest to the sun. Still, these differences don't weigh up much over all, so those values are pretty reliable.

2007-01-03 09:23:45 · answer #1 · answered by Sean D 2 · 0 0

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Up How Far Away is the Sun?
Astronomers determined the size and shape of our galaxy and measured distances to other stars using the “parallax method” (and eventually other methods using the star’s light spectrum). Unfortunately, these methods do little to help us find out the exact distance to our very own star, the Sun. Surprisingly, to get the distance to the sun, astronomers first had to determine the exact distance to Venus!

With the invention of radar, scientists were able to measure the distance to Venus very precisely. By timing how long it took the radar beam to travel at the speed of light to Venus and back, the total distance to the object can be determined from the equation:

Distance = (Speed of Light) X (Total Time)/2

The reason the total time is divided by two is to get just the distance from the Earth to the object.





Earth-Sun Distance = (Earth-Venus Distance) / (Cos q)

Using trigonometry, astronomers now know that the “Astronomical Unit” = 92,955,820.5 miles (149,597,892 kilometers). This incredible degree of accuracy is possible because the speed of light is known very precisely and extremely accurate clocks are used to time the radar reflection. Radar can’t be used to determine the distance to the Sun directly because the Sun doesn’t have a solid surface to reflect the radar efficiently.



Ref: Strobel’s Astronomy Notes, May 2001.



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2007-01-03 17:05:01 · answer #2 · answered by adam 1 · 0 0

The average distance between the earth and sun is called an Astronomical Unit, 1 AU = 149597870 km

2007-01-03 17:01:53 · answer #3 · answered by Roman Soldier 5 · 1 0

Approximately 93 Million Miles.

2007-01-03 16:57:26 · answer #4 · answered by Jolly 7 · 2 0

The distance is 150 Million Kilometers

2007-01-05 05:33:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

As John and John say, "The sun is about 93 million miles away... and that's why it looks so small." (Why Does the Sun Shine by TMBG)

2007-01-03 17:36:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Mean distance from Earth 149.6×106 km (92.95×106 mi)

You could get more information from the link below....

2007-01-05 07:06:17 · answer #7 · answered by catzpaw 6 · 0 0

like 150 million miles

2007-01-06 21:35:53 · answer #8 · answered by SoSoCurious 1 · 0 1

8 light minutes.

2007-01-03 17:04:41 · answer #9 · answered by Elizabeth Howard 6 · 0 0

36 feet

2007-01-03 19:15:56 · answer #10 · answered by zero d 2 · 0 1

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